Shake You Up
by salmonbutter
Summary: A poised and capable medic is what the Jouis need and that's what they got. Kotone Makita tags along with Takasugi Shinsuke and company on their adventures, all while maintaining a bet with Shinsuke. Takasugi/OC
1. Chapter 1

"I swear, Ayame-san. I'm just going to make their injuries worse."

"Oh, be quiet. I've been teaching you for 5 years. It's not like I'll leave you alone. This is a great experience and you'll most likely save lives, too!"

"But, Ayame-"

"NO BUTS."

A sigh escaped the 15 year old girls' lips. The ground crackled under her feet as she followed her teacher down an empty street. Night crickets sung as they walked past houses. Some street lights flickered, needing a new set of light bulbs. The ash brown haired girl gripped her forearms and rubbed them against her red sweater, trying to warm herself up. The chilly autumn air blew right through her clothes. She revised all the different ways to wrap up a bandage and post-surgery procedures.

Kotone Makita was the famous doctor's, Sakiboshi Ayame, apprentice. The thirty year old female doctor had been teaching Makita since she was ten, now aged of fifteen. Ayame had tended to wounded Joui soldiers since the Joui war started, against the Amanto, aliens who wanted to take over the globe, starting with Japan. The samurai and the Shogun had started fighting back a long time ago but they were losing, due to lack of soldiers, medics and skilled fighters.

The two women were making there way over to barracks made for Joui soldiers to rest. Ayame had received a call from them saying they had a lot of injured soldiers. Of course, the barracks were in a secret location, so that no Amantos would ambush them while they were totally helpless.

Makita's stomach churned. She was scared to see actual injuries and truly attempt to heal them. What if she screwed up and made their injuries worse? What if she gave them the wrong medicine?

The girl chewed lightly on her lower lip, tasting some of the lip chap she had previously applied. Her bangs brushed against her skin as her ponytail bounced with each step she took. Her dark brown eyes looked up and she stared at her teachers back. Her teacher's long, ebony beautiful hair swished side to side as she strutted along the road, carrying a big black bag full of medicine, bandages and first aid kits.

They walked for about 5 more minutes in silence when Ayame finally came to a stop to a large Japanese styled house. The two women could hear chatter from where they were standing. Makita stood right beside her tall teacher. Ayame looked down at her and smiled. Makita looked back up with a questioning look. Ayame's purple eyes sparkled with excitement. _She's EXCITED to do this?_

"Don't be nervous, Maki! It won't be that bad." Ayame put one pale hand on the younger girls' head. Makita curled her lower lip into a pout and looked at the ground. Then, Ayame knit her brows and hit Makita lightly on her head.

"What did I do?" Makita squealed as she rubbed her head, frowning up at her trainer.

"You're not confident enough. If you want to be a great medic, you've got to have faith in yourself! The first time is always daunting but you have to face the music one day." Without another word, Ayame began to walk to the entrance of the quarters. Makita gave Ayame's back a sluggish look then trailed her tracks. Ayame stepped up the few stairs and slid open the shogi door, indecorously. Once the doctor opened the door, the whole room full of men immediately stopped talking and all stared at her. Makita quickly trotted up the stairs and joined her teacher at her side. Then, the men looked at both of the newcomers for a few seconds more until Ayame frowned and cleared her throat.

"_Domo, mina-san_. I'm Sakiboshi Ayame." She examined the crowd. "And this here is Kotone Makita." She gestured over to the girl. "We're here to tend to the wounded. Is Sakata Gintoki around?"

"Uhm, yes. The captain is outside with the other captains. The wounded are down the hall and to the very first door on your left." A man replied to Ayame, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Alright, thank you." Ayame turned around and looked at Makita. "You go to the room and start, you know what to do. I'll be right there." Makita nodded and Ayame walked back down the stairs and around the house to go find this 'Gintoki'. Makita turned back around to see the men staring at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"What? Is there something on my face?" She asked them. All of the men shook their heads and went back to chatting with their neighbour. Makita sighed and looked around for a door, leading to a hallway.

She found a shogi door beside her and sliding it open, a hallway appeared. She walked down the wooden floor and looked to her left for a door. At the very end of the corridor, she found another door and heard some soft chatter and laughter from the room. Her heart started beating faster. _Moment of truth._

She reached for the door handle and inhaled deeply. She then slowly slid the door open to reveal about fifty men on futons on the floor, all wounded and bandaged up. They didn't seem to notice her as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She walked over to a cupboard and opened it. There were 3 bottles left, practically empty. There was rubbing alcohol, maybe a drop of freezing liquid, and pills. She gave the bottles a weird look and took the three out and trotted over to a rolling table and set all the bottles down.

"Hey." She heard a deep, crackly voice say. She turned her head and looked at the source, a 20 year old man laid down in a futon. It was horrid. His face was covered in deep wounds and blood. He was bare-chested, revealing bandages wrapped around his whole upper body. Blood had seeped through but the bandages gladly soaked the liquid up. Thankfully, the bleeding had apparently stopped but there was still a chance of an infection. The wounds weren't that critical, though. "Are you the medic?"

"Uh, yes. But, I'm just an apprentice. My teacher will be here soon." Makita replied, feeling a bit woozy.

"Oh, that's good." She could tell the man was relieved by how his eyes softened. She smiled to herself. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

Then, Makita heard the door slide open. She looked back and saw her teacher standing beside a boy, maybe a year older than her, with silver, curly hair, tinted blue. He was wearing battle clothes with a white head band hanging lazily around his neck. Ayame grinned, looking satisfied with the room full of injured. Makita sweat dropped. She walked over to them and the silver haired boy examined her.

"Gin-kun, this is Kotone Makita. Maki, Sakata Gintoki. Or Gin for short." Makita looked up at the man. He was much taller than her. "I'll let you two chat while I get started." His maroon, almost red, eyes stared her brown ones straight down. Makita smiled, sheepishly, feeling a little awkward as Ayame left them.

"Uh, nice to meet you. Are you one of the captains?" She asked. Finally, the boy smiled lazily back.

"Yeah, along with 3 others. You must be Ayame's apprentice. Aren't you nervous? I mean, being only 15 and to have to already start seeing these injured people."

"How do you know my age?" 

"Ayame-san told me."

"Oh, right. And yeah, I'm really nervous, but I've got Ayame to help me." She regretted asking that question. "How old are you? 'Cause you look pretty young. And to already be fighting in the war…"

"I'm 16. And it's not that bad if you're already used to…" He paused.

"To what?"

"Never mind." He mumbled. Makita raised an eyebrow at him as he looked at the ground. That was when two other men entered the room. Makita peered over Gintoki's shoulder to examine the newcomers. One had long black hair, tied in a side ponytail which rested over his shoulder. He was also in battle clothes. The other boy had striking features, bright green eyes with thick, messy black hair which seemed to shine dark purple. He wasn't that tall but taller than Makita. He was clad in a grayish Chinese shirt under a long old fashioned jacket. A head band also dangled at his neck. The two of them looked around the same age as Gintoki. The boys were talking amongst them and seemed to be arguing.

"Goddammit, Zura!" The purple tinged haired one shouted. "The next time he says I'm short, I swear he'll find himself ball-less!"

"Calm down. He was just teasing you. And it's not Zura, it's Katsura." The other boy replied, calmly.

"But it's every second of my life that he teases me! ARGH! Just because he's older!" The thick haired boy looked around the room as he complained. He finally looked over in Makita's direction. The teenagers made eye contact but Makita quickly looked away and back to Gintoki and their chat.

_Who's that?_ thought Takasugi Shinsuke. He nudged his friend with his elbow.

"Who's the girl?" Shinsuke pointed a finger-less gloved finger as he talked to his long haired comrade.

"That's Ayame-san's apprentice. She's a year younger than us, if I remember correctly."

Shinsuke eyed her as she talked to his silver haired friend without a word. The young captain of the Kiheitai walked over to the two adolescents. Gintoki saw him out of the corner of his eye and stopped their conversation.

_Shit, he's coming over here. Do I look okay? How's my breath? What if I make myself look like a complete idiot?_ Makita panicked in her head. Her heart started beating a little bit faster and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

The boy, almost man, finished his walk over to them and stopped to look at Gintoki then at Makita.

"Makita, Takasugi Shinsuke. Leader of the Kiheitai. Takasugi, Kotone Makita. Ayame's apprentice." Gintoki stated, bored.

Makita gave a small smile to Shinsuke who kindly returned it. His beautiful olive green eyes, darkly rimmed with exhaustion, examined her eyes closely.

"Nice to meet you." They both said at the exact time. Their expressions changed to surprise then they both laughed. Shinsuke reached his hand out and Makita took it.

"Jinx." Makita grinned as she shook his hand.

Shinsuke could feel that her hands were soft, even through his glove. He saw a slight blush on her cheeks and her dark brown eyes seemed to sparkle. He felt his heart skip.

"Alright, Maki! Enough with the flirting, come over here and help me!" Makita flinched at her teachers' loud comment and mumbled an 'I'm coming.'

"I'll see you guys around." She said awkwardly before leaving. Takasugi nodded his head as she left, a spaced out smile on his lips. Takasugi felt Gintoki's gaze on him. He looked at him and saw that he was giving him a wary look. Shinsuke frowned.

"What?" Takasugi asked, eyeing the other boy. Then, Gintoki smirked.

"Nothing." Gintoki replied and walked over to Katsura. Takasugi gave him a weird look before following him, quickly glancing back at the girl.

"Okay, now you know what to do, right?" Ayame expected Makita to know what she was doing. Their first patient had a deep wound in the forearm area.

"Uh… clean the wound, freeze the area, stitch the wound, and then bandage it?" Makita suggested, giving her teacher a hopeful look.

"A+!" Ayame smiled. Her student smirked back and began her work. Ayame watched her with a sparkle in her eye. "You can take care of this; I'll go see other patients."

Makita nodded her head; not taking her eyes off the man's wound. She had to work quickly so she could tend to all of the patients in at least one night. This was going to be one hell of a night…


	2. Chapter 2

"And that's exactly why we have special medics here! We can't retreat! We have to go to that battle! Our soldiers will be fine. And not to mention we won't have enough time to retreat!" Takasugi slammed his closed fist on the tatami mat, glaring at the tall, scruffy brown haired captain, alias Sakamoto Tatsuma whom was sitting cross-legged, as well, in front of him.

The vibe in the room was an atmosphere of tension, bitterness and perplexity. A few flames ate slowly at white coloured wax, creating a pool of liquid in a metal cup. All doors were closed and it was around 1 am. Four men were still wide awake, debating on a subject that was seemingly delicate to Takasugi.

"Takasugi. We have no choice. We all know that the wounded won't be ready in 4 days. Besides, we only have 2 medics here. Actually, only one, considering that Kotone-chan is only an apprentice." Sakamoto inhaled calmly, taking his brown eyes off the younger boy for a few seconds and spoke again. "We have an adequate amount of time to effortlessly retreat. I'm sure we will find citizens farther away from here that would gladly take us in until every one of our soldiers are healed. If we go to this battle in our current condition, I can guarantee our defeat."

Takasugi bit his lower lip as his brows furrowed in discontentment. He drew back his hand and placed it on his knee, his other hand mimicking. He tore his eye contact with Sakamoto and stared at the floor, like he could set it on fire with his eyes.

"Sakamoto-san is right. We can't win this battle with all these injured men. We need to be patient. There will be many, many battles in the future, Takasugi. If we start retreating towards the east tomorrow morning, we can easily go far enough so that they won't locate us." Katsura tranquilly sided with Sakamoto, trying to get the point across to Shinsuke.

"I agree with both of them. Just drop it, Takasugi. Let's all get some good night's sleep. We'll need the energy for tomorrow." Gintoki added.

Takasugi didn't respond but changed the subject. "Will the medics follow us?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot about them. I'll go tell them what's happening." Katsura stood up peacefully as he spoke. "Good night, everyone."

"_Shimata_!" Takasugi quickly stood up as well. The three other men stared at him. "I forgot to bring them the food I told them I'd bring…" Takasugi stared at the little bundle of food that was in the corner of the room. Gintoki and Katsura gave Takasugi an "Oh my god..." look while Sakamoto just laughed, as usual.

"Shut up, Sakamoto! I didn't mean to."

"As always, the shorty screws everything up." Sakamoto countered, a huge grin on his face. Takasugi twitched and tried not to throw the food he was holding at him.

"Let's go, then." Katsura cut off their fight.

_Grumble_.

"Wow, listen to that stomach, Makita." Ayame laughed brightly as her apprentice sat on the floor, legs spread out, leaning against the wall and hands clutching her stomach. It was already so late, and they were done healing all of the severe injuries. They would continue treating the others tomorrow. For now, both of the medics were exhausted and hungry, seeing how no one had brought them food.

"I thought they were gonna bring us some food!" Makita yawned after her complaint.

"You look so tired, my dear. I'll go demand for some food, and then we'll sleep as much as we want." Ayame began saying as she started walking towards the exit. She left the room and Makita listened to her stomach complain some more.

The night hadn't been so hard. There were some gruesome injuries, but nothing she couldn't handle. The thought of knowing she had saved lives of some very brave people, fighting for the freedom of their country made her feel important and sought-after. Most of the men were now fast asleep, which was why the only things heard from the room were a few coughs and whispers.

Makita placed her cool hand over the left side of her now burning face. Her head pounded in pain and her eyes felt poofy and over-used. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes open but she couldn't help it. She closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep until she heard the door slide open. _Food!_ Her eyes shot open and she stood up. The person she saw was not Ayame; it was Shinsuke. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Makita got up.

"Uhm, I brought you the food. I'm really sorry, I completely forgot." Shinsuke apologized, sheepishly. He pressed his lips together in a tight line as she began walking over to him.

"It's fine." She smiled amiably as she chortled, standing before him. Takasugi smirked back and extended the package of food out to her. She took it blissfully. "Thanks." Her eyes were caught by a red stain leaking through the boy's shirt. She frowned and looked up at him. "You're bleeding."


	3. Chapter 3

Shinsuke looked surprised and looked down at his shirt, placing a hand on it, and then taking it away to see that his hand was covered in blood. He looked back up at her with a confused look. "I am."

Makita immediately placed the food down onto a table and told the boy to go lay down on one of the spare beds, not taking the time to chuckle at his bewildered reaction. He followed her instructions as she grabbed a bottle of antiseptic and bandages.

_His injury could be bad. Why didn't he tell me he was injured?_

She walked back over to the area they were in, seeing the boy sitting on the edge of a counter.

"The bed's broken." He laughed sheepishly, explaining to her why he wasn't laying down. The girl sighed heavily and walked in front of him. Since he was sitting on the counter, she was face to face with his chest.

"When did you get injured?" She asked as she opened the bottle, her eyes concentrated on his abdomen.

"This morning. Since I completely forgot about it, it's probably not that ba- _itai_!" Shinsuke began explaining but upon thinking about the injury, a wave of sharp pain washed over his wound and he grabbed it, violently. A quick look of worry washed over Makita's features but she quickly regained her poise. She carefully placed her hand on his wrist and tore his hand away. He groaned.

"I need you to relax." Shinsuke nodded. He inhaled and held his breath as he looked away. He didn't want to see the wound.

Makita wielded the small sword she had put through the belt rings of her jean pants. She cut through Shinsuke's shirt, not having the patience or courage to actually unbutton it, and threw it to the ground.

Makita stared at the young leader's wound. It was a long gash going across his abdominals. The injury wasn't deep but it could still be infected. The bleeding had stopped. The blood that she had seen on his clothes was when the wound had been opened the first time.

"It's not too bad, Takasugi-san. I just have to disinfect it. It might sting a bit." Makita told him as she opened a bottle and poured some on a towel. She slowly patted it down on his wound. She felt him twitch and suppress a groan of pain. She smiled weakly and looked up at him. He was still holding his breath and looking elsewhere. She chuckled at his childish acts and continued tending his wound. After disinfecting it, she carefully wrapped white bandages around the gash and made sure it held in place.

As she began to put her equipment away, she spoke; "Make sure you don't push yourself or you'll start bleeding, again."

Takasugi eyed her as she put away her possessions in a cupboard. He nodded and slipped himself off the counter. "Thank you." He said as he looked around the room at his wounded comrades. He frowned. "And thank you for treating our men, too."

Makita turned her head to look at the young man, her hands still in the cupboard. She smiled warmly.

"Don't mention it."

He flashed her a smile that she swore could've stopped her heart. Her cheeks reddened and she pulled her attention back to ordering her medicine. She heard him take a few steps towards her. He sat on the counter, again, but beside her, this time. She continued standing and sorting through her medicine.

"Where are you from?"

"Saga region. I lived right near the border of Nagasaki, in the city of Imari. You?" Keeping her eyes on what she was doing.

"I'm from Nagasaki! And lived near the border, too! We were practically neighbours." Shinsuke laughed. Makita shot him a stunned gaze.

"Are you serious?"

"Small world we live in." He chuckled lowly and stared at his feet.

"Nagasaki is such a peaceful place… What made you come _here_?" She asked, closing the cupboard and walking away momentarily to grab her long-awaited food.

He stared at her back as she walked away then gave the floor a thoughtful look as she came back, propping herself up onto the perpendicular counter. "I'm here to retaliate." Confidence oozed from his eyes when he fixed his eyes back on her.

Her eyes widened slightly. "Retaliate? What happened? If you don't mind me asking…" She began undoing the knot that held the cloth package together.

"Those God forsaken Amantos took something precious away from me." Takasugi's knuckles turned white as he stared down the floor again.

"Something or some_one_?" Makita caught on quickly, pulling out a rice ball from her package and taking a big bite of it.

"You're clever." Shinsuke smiled, mischievous eyes matching hers. Makita shrugged but couldn't help smirking, her mouth full of food. Shinsuke sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yes, my mentor. I considered him part of my family. I was an orphan and he gladly took me in. He was a kind, caring man whom accepted everyone as they were. A generous soul ushered with gentleness kinder than anyone's I've ever met. I owe him my life and happiness. But six years ago, he was murdered by the Amanto. I had my share of seeing people die before my eyes so I joined the Joui. I'll do everything in my power to rid our land of these brutes."

Makita chewed her food, seemingly unmoved by his explanation. "Wow, I didn't know you were the poetic type."

Takasugi laughed, not expecting that answer from her. "Odd. I expected you to at least get teary-eyed at my melancholy tale."

"I've seen arms and legs torn off in front of me, it'll take more than a depressing story to shake me up."

Takasugi stared at the young brunette, wondering exactly just what kind of girl she was. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but smirk and close his eyes.

"It'll take more to shake you up, eh?" He looked back up at her with his brilliant olive eyes. "Challenge accepted."

Makita blinked at him in surprise before returning his devious smirk. "And if you figure out you can't?"

"Oh, trust me. I'll be able to." He snickered, self-reliance plastered over his face.

"Okay there, Mr. Cocky," she replied sarcastically before gobbling down another rice ball and licking her fingers clear of the rice on them. "Deal."

A/N: Yes, the title makes its appearance in this chapter. No, the story isn't over. XD Here are some Japanese words you might not have understood:

_Shimata: _Shit, crap, etc.  
><em>Itai: <em>Ouch, ow, etc.

_Domo, mina-san_: Hello, everyone

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